Only Pain
by Jess Terra
Summary: Robin is kidnapped and his kidnapper has no plans for him... but to hurt him. Rated M for blood and gore in later chapters and language. NOT FOR THE WEAK STOMACH... R&R please :  I OWN NOTHING TO DO WITH TEEN TITANS
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

His red, yellow, and green uniform was worn and torn slightly from the battle he and his teammates had just been in. They had done a lot of damage to the buildings and some people of Jump City, and the police force was expecting a mound of paperwork in a few days. The figure stood, shoulders hunched, over the table in the evidence room, looking over the forms he could almost recite by memory, but his tired mind couldn't process a word he read. Seeing as it was 4:30am, this was to be expected.

He slid down into the chair behind him and pressed his palms against his eyes and imagined his girlfriend, who had probably fallen asleep back in bed when he didn't turn in for the night. It had been a year and a half since their first kiss in Tokyo… they started dating that day - no surprises there - but hadn't gone past an occasional peck until recently, when puberty and curiosity took over. She had grown beautifully into her body, and he had to admit that though he was still very skinny, all his training and working out was beginning to pay off. He had gone through a couple of growth spurts and was almost as tall as Starfire, but that didn't make much of a difference between them considering the fact that she spent most of her time hovering above him.

Robin jumped when he heard the door slide open and Starfire walked in with a plate of bacon and eggs.

"Star!" Robin spluttered, "I'm sorry I didn't come to be, I just…" he glanced at the papers again and sighed.

"It is alright," She said sweetly, though her face did not agree, "I have brought you a share of Cyborg's breakfast." She offered him the plate.

Robin stared incredulously at the plate, then at Starfire.

"Breakfast?" He finally said, then looked at the clock, which now read 9:45am.

"SHIT! This paperwork is due at noon! Two fucking hours and I'm not even close to being done! I fucking fell asleep! Fuck!"

His sudden outburst and offensive language made Starfire shrink back. She carefully set the plate down beside Robin and kissed him on his forehead, which he ignored in his scramble to finish his work. Starfire sighed inaudibly and went back to the kitchen to eat her own breakfast. When she walked in, all the other Titans looked at her.

"We heard Rob shout, y'all alright?" Cyborg stated sympathetically.

"Yes, but I am afraid he is not so. He said that he accidentally fell asleep, and did not finish the paperwork that is due at 12 o'clock today," Starfire informed before drifting to her seat beside Beast Boy. He smiled at her, and she smiled wearily back. Beast Boy's facial features and body had significantly matured, but his personality was hardly any different. Cyborg hadn't changed a bit, except for the occasional software upgrade. A hooded figure drifted into the seat beside Star, it was Raven, who hadn't changed either; however, she had gained mastery over her powers and had a confident gait not present before.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Raven smirked.

"No, that will not be necessary," Starfire replied, smiling, "He wasn't yelling at me, he was simply… yelling."

They finished their breakfast and then took their usual places for the day: Beast Boy and Cyborg playing video games quite competitively, Starfire taking turns rooting for the both of them and laughing with her mood lightening considerably, and Raven sitting at the edge of the couch immersed in her newest book and only occasionally looking up. It was almost time for lunch when Starfire remembered Robin.

"I wish to do the "checking in" on Robin," Starfire said as she floated off.

"A'ight, holler if ya need us!" Cyborg called over his shoulder, his eyes transfixed on the screen.

Starfire walked through the automatic sliding doors and down the hall that led to the evidence room. When she went in quietly, she saw the familiar scene of Robin hunched over the table.

"Robin, would you like to join us for lunch?" She asked timidly.

"Not now, Starfire," He replied flatly.

"Please, is the paperwork not completed?"

"There's… other stuff."

"Robin-"

"Not now Starfire!" He said with more force, but not turning around.

"This cannot be healthy-" Starfire began.

"FUCKING LEAVE ME BE!" He spun around and shouted with an awful glare. Starfire stared for a moment, shocked as tears welled up in her eyes. Then she tore out of the room and went to Raven for council. Starfire explained to Raven how Robin had acted, and Beast Boy and Cyborg paused their game to listen. When she finished, all three got up and silently agreed to go talk some sense into him.

"I'm gonna kick his ass…" Cyborg growled.

"Oh please do not harm him," Starfire protested, but Cyborg didn't respond.

Raven's eyes glowed white and the doors, engulfed in black magic, were forced open.

"Yo Robin, what's your deal?" Beast Boy shouted.

"Not now Starfire…" Robin replied in monotone.

"Uh, dude? I'm definitely not Starfire." Beast Boy said defensively.

Raven walked over beside Robin and picked something up off the desk. Suddenly, Robin was jerked off his seat and flung to the opposite side of the room all while keeping his sitting form. At the other side of the room, Robin flickered and disappeared.

"Hologram…" Raven stated.

"Then where is our Robin?" Starfire asked fearfully. "Has he re-embraced Red X?"

"Uh guys? My sensors are picking up heavy traces of chloroform…" Cyborg stated, causing Starfire to gasp dramatically.

"OUR ROBIN HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED?" She shrieked.

At that moment a sharp object shattered the window and sunk into the wall behind her, glittering with glass dust and shine. Starfire, transfixed, grabbed the object and pulled a piece of paper off it, reading aloud:

"You Titans can be so predictable…."

She lifted the object for all to observe: it was a copper disc with an "S" engraved on it, almost making a perfect circle. _Slade._


	2. Chapter 2

By: Jessica Dooley

CHAPTER 2

Robin quickly scooped up all the papers and rushed over to the fax machine, feeding them in one by one. He looked at the clock and sighed at the luminescent glare of the 11:53. When all the papers had been faxed, he sat down in his chair and closed his eyes.

After a moment of resting, he heard a "click" behind him, causing him to spin around, wearily scanning the room. He pulled out his communicator and was about to call Cyborg when something soft covered his nose and mouth. He struggled weakly for a moment and barely had the time to realize that it was a rag with a terrifyingly familiar scent on it before his head became light and his vision faded black.

Starfire flew back and forth behind Cyborg, who was clicking away at his computer.

"Aha!" Cyborg yelled, making everyone jump. "Slade doesn't know about the tracking devices we had implanted inside all of us after BB and Raven disappeared before…"

"So we know where he is?" Beast Boy said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yup! He's in… Gotham. Hmm." Cyborg's brows furrowed.

"Is there a problem friend Cyborg?" Starfire asked worriedly.

Well, I just thought, maybe we could… ya know, ask for a little help from an old friend of Robin's…" He grinned mischievously.

"No way…" Beast Boy gawked, "Do you think he would?"

"It's worth a-" Cyborg began to reply but was cut off when the "incoming call" alarm sounded. He quickly accepted the call request.

"SLADE!" Starfire shrieked as the black and orange masked figure popped up on the screen.

"Still at home?" Slade started maliciously, "Not out looking for Robin? I'm disappointed… and I'm sure that he would be too. The little birdy just woke up, would you like to say hello?" The camera swiveled around and there was Robin, strapped to a lab table and breathing heavily and stripped of all of his clothing and gadgets save for his green tights.

"Robin!" Starfire cried.

"Starfire? STARFIRE!" Robin screamed, wrenching his hands against their restraints. Suddenly, the restraints burned white-hot and he screeched in pain, laying still again and breathing even more heavily as sweat trickled down his face.

"Robin! Do not move! We will find you!" Starfire promised with tears pouring down her cheeks.

"I highly doubt that." Slade stated, amused.

"What do you want with him?" Cyborg spoke, voice steely and cold. "What are you planning?"

"Nothing," Slade simply stated, "Nothing at all."

"What?" Beast Boy asked, confused.

"I don't want you, or him, or anyone for that matter to do anything…" Slade replied, pausing to allow the confusion to spread, then walking over to a pole and bringing it to Robin's side. "I hate this child…" He glared down, his mask to Robin's sweating face with one visible eye narrowed, "I have no secret, ingenious plans…" He lifted the pole to reveal a white-hot brand, "but to watch you SCREAM!" He rammed the brand onto Robin's chest right over his heart, and Robin screamed out in a blood-curdling cry of pain. His cry was incredibly loud, but was drowned out by Slade's maniacal laughter.

"NOO!" Starfire cried, sobbing.

Slade picked up the brand after a painfully long moment, revealing an angry, red sear and the same symbol as the one on the disc the Titans had found previously. Then the video call ended.

"We must - find him - NOW!" Starfire gasped between sobs and spun around to view into the horrified faces of her friends. "And the Batman WILL help us!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Robin sat there with his eyes closed. His head hurt terribly as he tried to remember what had happened earlier. He tried to move his hands to rub his face, but found that they were restrained. A searing hot pain flashed against Robin's wrists and his eyelids snapped open. The restraints had violently heated up against his struggling, and after he ceased doing so they cooled down. He looked around the unfamiliar room as he gasped in pain. It looked similar to a hospital room, where he was strapped onto a lab table in the centre.

"Hello?" Robin called out after he had calmed down.

A familiar voice struck out from a dark corner of the dimly lit room, "Oh Robin… good, you're awake." Robin's blood froze and his eyes widened as Slade's voice emerged, and his heart pounded heavily in his chest when he realized that he no longer had his mask on. Robin, with his identity now revealed, was trapped with Slade… this had to be the night…mare.

Robin looked down at his body and saw that he had no clothes on save for his green tights. From an adjacent room, he heard Slade's voice and strained his ears to listen in but to no avail. However, it didn't matter because, moments later, Slade emerged from a silent sliding door.

"The little birdie… just woke up." Slade chuckled, turning away from Robin and towards a screen, "Would you like to say hello?"

"ROBIN!" The beautiful voice of Starfire pierced through Robin's heart like an arrow and he wrenched at the restraints with all his might. He had to get to Starfire! He struggled against the clasps around his wrists and ankles and tried with all his might to ignore the resulting, excruciating pain. The searing hot metal burned away at his skin, and Robin could no longer take the pain. He gave up, seeing as his struggles were getting him nowhere, and tried to keep his mind away from the blistering pain from his burns.

"Robin! Do not move! We will find you!" Starfire's voice screamed. Robin could tell that she was crying.

"I highly doubt that," Slade replied.

"What do you want with him? What are you planning?" Robin heard Cyborg say in such a way that it reminded him of himself.

"Nothing," Slade replied in a monotone voice, "Nothing at all." There was a pause in which Robin laid there, confused.

"What?" Beast Boy asked, confused.

"I don't want you, or him, or anyone for that matter to do anything." Slade said as he walked over to a rod, dragging it towards Robin, "I hate this boy…"

Slade gave Robin a look of pure hatred, and said through clenched teeth: "I have no secret, ingenious plans…. EXCEPT TO WATCH YOU SCREAM!"

Robin was getting anxious and he couldn't lean over far enough to see what Slade was holding, and when Slade lifted the object up his heart began to beat rapidly. He barely got a glimpse of the S-shaped symbol of Slade on the object before it was rammed down onto his chest and Robin then felt unbearable pain that made the pain in his wrists nothing in comparison. He screamed out and his face contorted in pain all while Slade laughed, basking in Robin's pain.

Slade pulled off the brand after what seemed like an eternity, vaguely hearing Starfire yell something before her voice cut off and left nothing but dead silence and Robin's heart beating against his chest. Robin lay, gasping in anguish, as Slade looked down on his pained face.

"You've been very frustrating Robin, and I intend to repay the favor ten-fold you little bastard." He spat. "We're going to have a lot of fun, Richard Grayson, and it shall begin… now."

Robin's eyes widened upon hearing his real name, mind reeling in shock and in fear. What would happen to the people in Gotham? Would Slade act upon this newfound information? Would he tell anyone? Robin was thinking of so many things that he didn't even notice that Slade had left the table and returned with a tray that hosted an array of strange tools that clinked when he set it down.

"Richard!" Robin was pulled away from his thoughts.

"Pay attention!" Slade continued gleefully, "I am going to tell you my plan and I shall only say it once." He picked up a syringe full of teal, transparent liquid and flicked it so that it made the glassy, 'tink' sound.

"I have been introduced to a few new substances that I would like to try out on you." The villain moved over to Robin and leaned over him, using his arm to prop himself just inches away, face to face and so close that Robin could feel Slade's hot breath coming through the mask in exhilarated rasps.

"Each concoction creates a different experience for the person it is injected into, and you are my guinea pig, Richard. Every time one formula wears off, you are going to tell me everything that you experienced and what it meant to you. Furthermore, should your pathetic friends locate you, I shall inject you with a poison that will kill your body for four days. They will be unable to tell that you will revive, and it is more than likely that you will wake up six feet underground and die of suffocation or starvation."

Slade cackled at the sound of his plan and pressed a button at the side of the table, causing the restraints on Robin's wrists to turn so that his inner elbow was exposed. Robin's breath quickened as the needle approached his vein. Suddenly, Slade stopped and looked around the room.

"You know?" Slade said thoughtfully, "I may just send your team a live video feed. Then I could have my own documentary." And with that he plunged the needle deep into Robin's vein. Robin looked away and squeezed his eyes shut, but felt the needle sink through his skin and puncture his vein, the contents releasing into his circulatory system and he knew that in very little time the contents would spread throughout his body. As the numbness spread throughout Robin's body, Slade slowly withdrew the needle.


End file.
